


long time gone

by cecilia095



Category: 24 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And For Jack/Renee, And Michelle/Tony, Basically I Ship Everyone On This Damn Show, Christmas, Cute Kids, F/M, Family Feels, Gen, Holidays, I Don't Even Know, I'm A Hoe For Jack/Tony Angst, Light Angst, M/M, OT3, OT4, Presumed Dead, definitely not canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:20:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24046549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cecilia095/pseuds/cecilia095
Summary: Set 5.5 years after Day 5, as AU as it gets.// "You’re supposed to be dead, remember?" "Which is why standing here like this under your porch light is a little dangerous for me." Jack visits an old friend for the holidays when being 'dead' gets a little bit lonely.
Relationships: Jack Bauer/Renee Walker (24), Tony Almeida/Jack Bauer, Tony Almeida/Jack Bauer/Michelle Dessler, Tony Almeida/Michelle Dessler
Comments: 7
Kudos: 36





	long time gone

**Author's Note:**

> Alternately, can be titled:  
> \- WHO THE F*CK IS STILL WRITING '24' FIC IN 2020?!  
> \- JACK JUST DOESN'T WANNA BE ALONE ON CHRISTMAS, OKAY?!  
> \- QUARANTINE GOT ME F*CKED UP.  
> \- WHAT EVEN IS THIS UNIVERSE?
> 
> Look, ma, I'm writing '24' fic in 2020! I recently watched the entire series (quarantine, nothing better to do, I actually loved it more than anything) and I obviously had my favorites, my least favorites, my own head canons, and _this_ universe, whatever it may be. Basically: DAY 5 AU AU _AU_ , as AU as it gets. 5.5 years later. Jack stays "dead", there's no car bomb, Tony/Michelle are living happily far enough away from CTU, and Renee Walker isn't currently an FBI agent; she's a colleague of Tony and Michelle's. Pretend she fits into the storyline because I love her and I needed her here, OK? That's all. To the one person who _might_ read this: I'm sorry, lol. I don't know why I wrote this either! But... I did.
> 
> OH. I also borrowed the Almeida kids from [this author](https://www.fanfiction.net/u/2744570/ShirleyTemple24) and [this author](https://www.fanfiction.net/u/3033102/ElizaMitchell) on ff.net. Their stories are the cutest, and the kids are exactly the kids I imagine Tony and Michelle ending up with after they move far far away from CTU and never get caught up in that stupid, stupid car bomb. <3
> 
> ———————————
> 
> ** I went back and edited a few parts of this story on 6/24/20. It was my first ever ‘24’ fic and as much fun as I had writing it, I’m still highly critical of my ability to write this show and these characters well, so I just went and spruced up a few tiny parts I felt needed fixing. It’s still not //perfect// but hopefully it’s better and I can stop obsessing about not loving it! **

“Holy shit.”

“A ‘hey Jack’ would’ve sufficed.”

Tony’s hands are in his pockets, and Jack notices he’s wearing pajama bottoms and a navy t-shirt. He doesn’t exactly know what time it is, but he knows he probably just woke him up.

“I just…” Tony, unable to say much else, runs a hand through his dark hair, and as he does Jack takes note of the thick, platinum wedding band on his finger. _Good sign, he and Michelle are fine._

“You’re supposed to be dead, remember?” Tony continues, a little lower than he spoke before, emphasis on the word 'dead'.

“Which is why standing here like this under your porch light is a little dangerous for me. Can I come in? Am I… am I waking anyone up?”

It’s his way of asking if Tony is alone in the house, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that he’s definitely not.

“Just a wife and two kids who wake up at the sound of me _breathing_ ,” Tony jokes, “but, uh, c’mon, come in. Just… take your shoes off and put them there.” He points to a shoe rack with lots of small sneakers, a pair of pink rain boots. “We’re trying to teach the kids not to run in the house with shoes. We just changed the floors in here.”

Jack snickers, bending down to slide off his shoes and place them on the rack. 

“Listen, uh. Let’s go in the office. You want anything to drink? When’s… when’s the last time you ate?”

Jack doesn’t really remember the last meal of his that wasn’t out of a can since crossing the border back to California, but he shrugs Tony off. “I’m fine.”

He follows Tony to his office, remembering tiptoeing around his own house at ungodly hours of the night, after another shift-from-hell at CTU, trying his best not to wake Teri or Kim. As he walks through the halls of the Almeida home, he can’t help but notice the array of photos on them — Tony and Michelle’s wedding photos, two cute, curly-haired kids — one boy, one girl —, some of the family together, two black and white newborn photos on the wall of the office. 

“So.” Tony nods, taking a seat in his desk chair. He invites Jack to sit in what he assumes is Michelle’s. “I don’t know what the hell you’re doing here, but I’m sure you’re about to lay it on me.” 

“Honestly…” Jack starts, his breath staggered and his voice low. “I contacted Chloe on my burner. Asked her to find you for me. She gave me an address in San Francisco, but she wouldn't tell me anything else. I didn’t even know whether or not you and Michelle had gotten back together after that day, but I’m… I’m glad to see you did.”

Tony scrunches his nose and just answers with a, “Yeah.”

“I’m not here for any reason aside from the fact that I haven’t had contact with anyone from, y'know, Jack’s life in over five years. I haven’t exactly been the same since. Sixty-second updates from Chloe once in a blue moon don't exactly count.”

Tony nods, his hands folded in his lap. He looks like he’s trying to understand, but also like he’s about to get his home raided by whoever Jack is probably on the run from.

“So… uh, what’s your name now?”

“Frank Flynn,” Jack says in one breath. “Stupid, huh?”

Tony cocks a brow, and lies, “It’s not that bad.”

“Y-You have two kids, right?” Jack asks, nodding to the picture frames hanging above Tony’s desk.

“Right. Michelle’s… she’s actually pregnant again, almost three months, but we haven’t told anyone yet. It wasn’t exactly planned, but uh, we can afford it; we can handle it.”

“Good. That’s… good. Are you still active?”

Tony lets out a laugh and scratches the side of his cheek. “Hardly. Michelle and I co-own a private security company. I handle the clients, she handles the books and stays here with the kids when I go into the office. There’s no way the shit we used to do would ever fit into the life we have now, Jack.”

Jack understands that. He wishes that were his case, sometimes. He wishes he had a reason to give up on all of the shit he can’t fully run away from. Everything he’s ever had is gone. Kim, _his own daughter_ , thinks Jack Bauer is dead by all accounts, and he can't tell her that he isn't. It'll kill her all over again, just the way Chloe said it did the first time.

“Look, I’m not… I’m not trying to be a dick, but I know you, Jack. I know you didn’t come here for small talk at…” Tony pauses to look at the clock on the wall above his wife’s desk. “2 AM. Shit. I haven't been up this late since the kids were infants."

Jack scratches his cheek. “I'm sorry. And uh, I didn’t. I just needed to see what you were up to, I guess. See that someone I care about is okay. I… I don’t have anyone in Mexico, Tony. Not anyone that I can be too honest with, anyway. I was OK with that until...”

Tony swallows thickly, letting Jack continue. He’s not much of a talker — and come to think of it, neither is Jack — so he just listens to what his friend has to say.

“Tomorrow’s Christmas Eve. Chloe — Chloe told me Kim’s married.”

Tony tugs on his lip. “Y-Yeah. Michelle still keeps in touch with her sometimes. Stephen’s a real good guy.”

“Good. But it’s still painful that I’ll never be able to spend another day with her again.”

“So you wanna join in on my family Christmas card or somethin’, Jack?”

“Something like that.” It’s the first time Jack’s laughed, a real laugh, in a very long time.

“Look,” Jack continues, “she also told me that Kim’s pregnant, that it's a little girl, and that’s… I thought I could deal with that, but the fact that I have to miss out on all of these things because I’m _dead_ …”

At that, Jack pauses for a second, because he hears the door to the office creak open.

“The paperwork can wait, Tony, come back to b — Oh my God. _Jack_?”

Jack’s hands are in his pockets, and then he stands up and pulls them out to engulf Michelle in a hug. “Yeah, hey. Hey Michelle. It’s so good to see you. Seriously. The kids, they’re… they’re so beautiful. You, you look great.”

She bites the inside of her cheek and looks at her husband, and then back to Jack. It’s almost like she’s trying to believe it’s really him there. “Thank you. The kids… yeah, they’re everything to us. I’m sorry to just… come in here, I just… I couldn’t sleep well without Tony there. I figured he was just doing paperwork that could wait until the morning, but…”

“Michelle, it _is_ the morning,” Tony groggily points out, trying to make the two people in this room aware of the fact that it’s 2 AM and there’s something important he could be doing right now: sleeping.

“Where are the kids?” he asks her, and he doesn’t know why his voice is shaking or why he’s freaking out. Maybe he's not exactly trusting of the fact that the very deceased-on-record Jack Bauer is inside of their house, right now. There could be someone looking for him, and Tony's not trying to land himself or his family in the middle of that manhunt. 

“Relax, honey, they’re in their beds. Asleep. Where they’ve been for hours. Where else would they be?”

“I dunno.” Tony runs a hand through his hair and lets out a breath. “I’m happy to see you, Jack, I just… Is being here going to get my family in trouble?”

“Not unless you rat me out, Tony," Jack half-jokes.

“No one’s going to do that, _right_ _Tony_?” Michelle asks pointedly, throwing a glare in her husband’s direction. She’s the calmer of the two, as usual, and for that Jack is grateful.

"No Michelle, I'm not gonna tattle on Jack," Tony retorts.

“I’m sorry to just… show up here like this. I was just expecting Tony, really, and if I knew about the kids, I might… I might not’ve. The last thing I want to do is fuck with your life. The kids, h-how… how old are they?”

Michelle answers: “Anthony’s five, Maddie’s three. Anthony's middle name is... i-it's actually yours. 'Jack'. We wouldn't have him without you."

Jack rubs his lips together, clearly flattered by their gratitude but not exactly one to express the words. "I can't believe Kim's having a baby. Damn it."

Michelle and Tony share a look, and Jack's just staring down at his interlocked hands in his lap.

“Michelle and the kids are everything to you, right?" He asks Tony, and Tony just nods wordlessly. "Well, that was Kim for me, and I don't have that anymore. I mean. I'm just here so I don't have to be alone, hiding in Mexico as Frank Flynn for a little while. That's all. I'll go back eventually."

“Do - do you need to stay here, Jack? We have a guest room. You’re welcome to use it as long as you need to, seriously.” Michelle’s always been generous; even when Tony's suspicious. She doesn't need her husband's permission to do something that she knows is the right thing to do. "I mean it."

“I’m not going to burden you with that, Michelle. I’ll - I’ll find a hotel, I have a fake license and everything, I'm not worried. I scraped up some cash before I left Mexico."

They don't ask him how he managed to just... leave, and he's Jack; he's not going to offer up any more details than he has to.

"It's not a burden, it's fine. I'll - I'll go get it ready for you. Stay as long as you'd like, okay?"

"Michelle, c'mon," Tony pleas, "we've got a busy day tomorrow."

"He's not the _kids_ , Tony, he doesn't need a babysitter."

"I-I've got that meeting; you have that doctor's appointment."

"And we can still do those things. My mom will come and watch the kids if we need her to."

"Not if he's gonna be staying here," he points out, nodding over to Jack. "You know I love her, but your mom is the nosiest person alive, sweetheart. She's gonna have all these questions..."

Michelle huffs. "Fine. I'll uh, I'll reschedule the sonogram. You can do the meeting virtually or - or I'll send Danny to pick up the kids' presents. It's really not a big deal."

“I’m sorry.” Jack’s shaking his head, almost ready to take back everything, almost ready to dismiss himself from whatever he just started. Clearly, he’s intruding on a whole lot here — they’re two completely different people than they were years ago; they have a whole different life now. “I don't have to stay here."

Ignoring her husband, who'll come around eventually — he always does, when it comes to Jack Bauer — Michelle walks over to Jack and offers him a sincere squeeze on the forearm. "You're staying. Where else are you supposed to go? I'll... I'll go get that guest room ready. If you need a shower, you can use the one down the hall."

Jack presses his lips together, simply nodding in response. His clothes are dirtier than he'd like for them to be and his hair could use a shampooing.

"And Jack? Don't worry about waking the kids up; they're not as light of sleepers as Tony thinks they are. He just makes a lot of noise when he comes in the house."

"No I don't."

"You do."

Jack lets out a mix of a laugh and a huff. "Thank you. Both of you."

/////

"Hey." 

He's not even _close_ to sleeping, despite it being near 3 AM. Normally, between the kids, the business, and all of the other shit that comes along with this whole new, CTU-less life they’ve got, eleven o'clock, at the latest, quickly became the new bedtime in the Almeida house.

Michelle rolls over onto her side, her torso pressing closer into his as she lifts a palm up to exhaustedly rub her eyes. “Hey,” she says, her voice hoarse from the sleep he knows he woke her up out of.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I know you're tired. You’ve been a trooper today with the kids. You always are, but especially when I have to work late. And I know — I know Maddie wasn't feelin' that great today; I'm sorry I didn't get home in time to help you with her. I just... I had so much paperwork, and now _this_...", he rambles on, forgetting the time and the fact that his wife is still half-asleep.

“It’s my job, you were just doing yours." She takes her hand and runs it up his upper arm, leaving it there for a minute to give his shoulder a squeeze. "Hey, I know why you can’t sleep, Tony. It’s okay.”

"Can you blame me for not exactly trusting him, Michelle? The man's supposed to be _dead_ , and if anyone finds out he's _not_ , we're screwed."

"Who's going to rat him out to the government? Maddie?" Michelle laughs, and Tony does too. Their three-year-old overshares _everything_ with _everyone_ , and it's a funny image. 

Michelle edges in a little closer to him, running a hand soothingly across his cheek in an attempt to lull him to sleep. He just wonders if Jack’s also wide awake in the guest room, feeling anything remotely close to what he is in this moment.

"We owe Jack, you know." They do, he knows. Jack Bauer is the reason for Tony's presidential pardon all those years ago. Jack Bauer is the reason there's a Tony and Michelle; there's the kids. He's to thank for all of it, and Tony knows that more than anyone.

Michelle continues: "And he came to see you. He wouldn't have done that unless he really needed to, Tony."

"Yeah, well I don’t get to be nonchalant about this kind of stuff anymore, Michelle. You can't blame me for being skeptical. It's not Jack I don't trust, it's... it's the people who wanted him dead in the first place.” His voice is stern. He presses a hand to her belly, palming over a tiny curve only she and him know is there, for now. “I’m someone’s dad. _Three_ someone’s. And I’m your husband. I have responsibilities, he doesn’t.”

"Maybe not, but I feel like he wishes he did."

/////

The feeling of intrusion continues for Jack when Michelle knocks on the guest room door at around eight in the morning. She swings it open halfway when he doesn't respond, a sleepy little wavy-haired girl on her hip and says, “Jack? You’re welcome to join us for breakfast!”

He slept a little later than he meant to, and he stayed in bed for much longer than he wanted to, not wanting to disrupt what he was sure was their morning routine. He misses those himself. Mornings with Teri, with Kim, just sitting at the kitchen table talking about things he can't even remember; just looking at everything he had to lose and thinking about how he'd never let that happen. It feels like ages and ages ago.

He finds clean clothes slung over an armchair, quickly slipping on jeans and a white t-shirt that must be Tony’s, then puts a pair of socks on — Michelle must’ve laid all that out for him at 2 AM — and joins everyone downstairs.

"Who's _he_ , Daddy?" A little voice asks curiously from the kitchen table.

"Um. Daddy and Mommy's friend," Tony explains briefly, without much expression in his voice, handing his five-year-old a plate of scrambled eggs and buttered toast. “Jack, hey, sid'down.”

Jack scrunches his nose at the sight of Tony’s boy — a spitting image of a tinier, shrunken-down Tony Almeida, himself — and hesitantly sits down at the table across from him.

“H-Hey buddy. I’m Jack. Friend of your Mommy and Daddy’s. I’ve known ‘em a long time,” he explains. “You must be Anthony, huh?”

“Mmm-hmm,” Anthony says, nodding through a big bite of his toast. “And that’s,” he pauses, nodding over to his mom, who’s got little Maddie still slung on her side, “my little sister, Maddie. She’s three. She’s tired.”

“I see that.” Jack smiles and gratefully accepts a mug full of black coffee that Tony places in front of him.

Michelle’s rubbing soft circles onto Maddie’s back, explaining to Tony in a low voice that he has to call Maddie's dance class to say she won't make it today, that she woke up with a slight temperature again and they shouldn’t chance her going.

“My poor baby...” Tony says sympathetically, giving Maddie’s arm a squeeze. She’s still wrapped up in her mom, her little legs dangling down Michelle’s torso. “No ballet _again_ today for you, huh? Do you want Mommy to put you back to bed?”

Jack’s never heard Tony talk this gently before. It’s endearing, but also kind of strange to watch him like this.

Maddie gives him a little nod, not lifting her head up from its place on Michelle’s shoulder, and then Michelle says, “C’mon, baby. You can lay down in Mommy and Daddy’s room, okay? We’ll put _Dora_ on?”

“She’s cute,” Jack says, and Tony puts a full plate of eggs in front of him too. “Real cute. Brings me back to the days of my own baby girl.” 

“Yeah, she’s — We were fine with the idea of two boys when Michelle got pregnant the second time, but now that she’s here… you know... Maddie’s just my world. Not that Anthony isn’t, he is too, but just… Having a little girl really changes things. Changes you. I’ve always been protective, but _now_...”

“I know that better than anyone,” Jack agrees, thinking about his own (not-so) little girl. His not-so little girl having a little girl of her own. There's a lump in his throat and it's on fire. He’s still so uneasy about the whole thing.

"Anth, go help Mom with Maddie, all right?" Tony taps on his son's back, and the little boy obliges, racing out of the room and trotting up the stairs, just a few steps behind his mom and his little sister.

“So.” Tony takes Anthony’s seat, finishes off the little piece of toast and pile of eggs his son didn’t. “How often does Chloe update you on Kim?"

"Once a month. Sometimes twice if it's significant."

"She's doin' okay, you know. For - for someone who's lost almost everything she's ever had, she turned out real good."

"I'm glad."

"Yeah."

"Tony, if - if you guys have plans, I'll find new ones."

"We don't. Christmas is the big day, but that's at Michelle's mom's. Christmas Eve is just us; we like it that way."

"That's pretty in-character for you," Jack says, adding a snicker.

"I-I'm sorry about Kim," Tony adds after a minute of silence, of just crunching on buttered toast and sipping down a mug of black coffee. "Are you going to ask Chloe for pictures of the baby when she's born?"

"I don't think so," Jack says with a growl, and he can feel Tony's eyes burning into him, about to ask him why the hell not. 

"I think it'd hurt too much,” he explains. “I already have to live without Kim; how am I supposed to see this picture of a little baby girl that's supposed to be my granddaughter, know all about her, but not ever get to meet her? I... I can't."

Just then, Michelle enters the room quietly, noting by the somber look on Jack and Tony’s faces that the conversation must be serious. “J-Just grabbing my coffee. I'm gonna take Anthony with me to pick up the presents. Tony… keep an ear out for Maddie; she’s in our bed lying down.”

“Gotcha. Thank you, baby. Anthony, c’mere.” Anthony obliges, racing over to his dad. “Bye, kiddo,” Tony says, rustling his son’s hair. “Have a good time, OK? And don't peek, or they go to Uncle Danny's kids."

“Ugh. _Really_?"

Tony nods seriously. "I mean it." Jack knew the hard-ass he once worked with was somewhere in there. 

"Fine. Love you, Daddy.”

“Love you too buddy. Michelle? Love you.”

She laughs, lifting the coffee mug she's drinking down from her lips with a grin. “I’ll be back in an hour.”

“Still.”

"Love you too. C'mon, Anthony."

Jack admires the scene in front of him, putting down his fork and letting it fall to his empty plate. “You guys really do have a beautiful family, Tony. I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see that someone from CTU didn’t get the shit end of the stick. Really. I mean that.”

Tony scratches the side of his cheek. “Thanks. Look. I... I want to help you Jack. If you need company for a little bit, a place to lie low, I want to be able to help you, but you've gotta let me know the second it gets dangerous; the second someone starts looking for you. The truth is, I owe you my life. You’ve gotten me out of more shit than I can count on both of my hands. Your convincing Palmer to grant me a pardon is the reason Michelle and I are here; the reason these kids are here. I want to help you, more than anything, I just..."

"I’m going to do everything I can to protect you and your family, Tony. I won't stay a second longer than I have to. I give you my word."

“I don’t need your word, Jack. I need to know that letting you stay here for a little while isn't a suicide mission for us, all right?"

/////

At noon, Jack's already 'Uncle Jack' to their three-year-old, and he's strangely fine hoisting Maddie into his lap and watching a Christmas-themed episode of _Dora_ with the kid.

Anthony's a little more observant, and skeptical, and he keeps asking Tony questions about the strange man who's suddenly shacked up in their house.

"But who _is_ he?" Jack hears the boy plea for an answer as Tony is left cleaning up scattered toys on their living room rug. 

"I told you, he's an old friend who came to spend the holidays with us," Tony explains sharply, "now go upstairs and help Mom wrap the rest of the presents... and stop askin' so many questions, a'right?"

Tony joins Jack and Maddie in the living room for a little while, and can't help but point out how quickly his kid has taken to Jack. "She barely even falls asleep in Michelle's lap like that anymore."

"You said she had a temperature, so she's beat, that's all." Jack cautiously runs a hand down Maddie's back, the feel of someone — anyone — this close to him so foreign. For a little bit, he imagines this is him and his granddaughter a few years from now, and then stops doing that to himself.

Tony's about to ask Jack to ditch Maddie on the couch for a little and come check out something on his computer in the office, when there's a knock at the door.

Jack cocks a brow, and Tony tells him to just stay there. No one's supposed to come over right now, and _not_ when Jack Bauer is sitting comfortably in the damn living room.

"Renee." He's barely letting the door open, and his colleague's hugging her arms around herself. Her red hair is up messily in a clip, and she's got a thin blazer on, two stacked manila folders in her left hand. It's not that cold out, but he still feels like an asshole for not letting her in. "Can't those files wait until after the holidays? I'm a little busy."

"Barely."

Renee Walker is the best hire he's ever had. She's the third reason this company is where it is, only probably really the second, just behind Tony. Michelle's stepped down in a few areas (almost) three kids later, but he won't admit that Renee's contributed just as much to the company, if not _more_ , out loud. She's former FBI, she's smart as all hell, she doesn't back down from challenging Tony when she thinks things could be done differently — _better_ — and she gets results. She always delivers.

She's been with them for over three years, and she's become strangely like family. Tony doesn't let people in often, but it was hard to shut her out. She's not exactly _forgettable_ , and she's almost a little intrusive, but it's part of her personality and no one hates her for it. Like... today. Today is _not_ the day for intrusive Renee, but he still doesn't exactly tell her to scram. 

"Look, I just have two things to show you pertaining to the software. We'll barely get through a cup of coffee, it'll be quick."

"Are you assuming I've got coffee for you?" 

"Michelle keeps my favorite in the pantry, so... yes."

"Is it an emergency?" he questions, but he knows it's not, or she would've already been in the office scrambling to the computer monitors to show him whatever was so urgent.

"Not really, but it's still pretty important, and you're wasting time you apparently don't have debating whether or not you're going to let me in, so just..."

Tony bites the inside of his cheek, one hand on his hip and the other on the frame of the door.

"I know it's Christmas Eve, but I brought candy for the kids in case they give you crap for working."

She's holding up two little red cellophane-wrapped bags of sugar his kids _definitely_ don't need more of (they're hyped up enough at all of the excitement today, not to mention their surprise visitor). "I-It's not the kids, I just... Michelle's not feeling well," he lies, "and we still have a ton of shit to wrap for the morning, so I gotta help. I don't have time for work today Renee, all right?"

Renee rolls her eyes. "Ten minutes, Tony. Two files. I promise. Then I'll go back home to my quiet apartment and my three bottles of wine, and you can go play Santa with your family. _Please_."

Tony inches closer to her and it makes her jump when he wraps a hand around her forearm. "I'm about to tell you something, but I swear to God, if you react, you're fired."

"Are you threatening me?"

"Not a threat, but this is serious."

"Tony, what the fuck? Are you...", her voice gets softer, and she whispers, "Are you being held hostage in your own home? Blink twice if you are. Fuck, you _are_? I have my gun."

"Renee, I don't need your gun, I need you to —" He waves her in the door, but keeps her right in the hallway. "Remember my dead friend Jack Bauer?"

"Who _doesn't_ remember that story, Tony? What about it?"

"H-He's... He might be in our living room watching _Dora_ with my kid right now."

Renee furrows her brows, and just stares at Tony like he's insane.

"...Alive."

Renee throws down the manila folders with the files she or Tony can't even think about right now and invites herself further into his house.

Michelle distends down the stairs with Anthony behind her, and Jack stands up from the couch, a still-sleeping Maddie in his arms. He quickly hands her off to Michelle and approaches Tony and the redhead.

"Renee?"

"Don't bother coming up with a cover story, Michelle. Your husband told me."

"I... I couldn't even think of one if I tried," Michelle admits, widening her eyes at the sight in front of them. Renee's the most incisive person she's ever known, and she's not going to let this one go.

"Jack Bauer..." Renee says, glaring in his direction. "You're supposed to be dead. Gone. Shot at CTU Los Angeles and _dead_. Tony's told me the story like, ten times. It - it was all over the damn news."

"Yes, yes it was," he answers, his voice hoarse.

"How the hell did you do it?"

"It's a long story..."

"I live alone and have no family and you're dead. We have plenty of time."

/////

**Author's Note:**

> I'm feeling a Part 2 coming on because I need more Jack/Renee hooking up at the Almeida's on Christmas Eve after he explains to her how the hell he's stayed in hiding for almost six years. I feel like she'd be into that, no? Like I said, I don't even know what this was, how it came about, why I even wrote it, what this universe even _is_ , but here we are. If you read this far, thanks! I hope to write more '24' soon, even if the show is 100 years old. :)


End file.
